Rebirth of a Realm
by Jane Colfer
Summary: Elizabeth is now Countess of Aetha, but what kind of ruler is she going to be? Short piece set after the events of Primal.


"Show some respect you fool, they are citizens of Aetha!"

The guard bowed respectfully before continuing to remove the severed head from the pike.

Countess Elizabeth rolled her eyes as she surveyed the scene before her.

The torture chamber.

It had been a personal favourite of her parents, long before the blood drinking gift had been granted to them they were cruel and sadistic rulers. Though her father preferred his laboratory and her mother derived pleasure from abusing Elizabeth herself, both had still made extensive use of the chamber over the years. Pitiful Helot had been chained to the walls, thrown in cages and suspended over flaming pits… and of course, there was the row of severed heads.

Wraith didn't die after being decapitated; it took a strike to the chest or abdomen to kill her kind completely, so the heads had become more of a decorative purpose than a method of torture. She didn't mind them personally; they had often been good companions when she was hiding from her parents, but the tended to rot after a while and had an atrocious sense of humour. So part of her first actions as countess was to completely remove all prisoners from the dungeons and the torture chamber, including the severed heads.

She had no intention of getting rid of the chamber, but for the moment the prisoners were unnecessary and she wished to completely rid herself of anything her parents had done. If only her memories could be erased as easily…

"Uhm, if I may be so bold your ladyship?"

The voice snapped her out of her thoughts as Elizabeth turned to see one of the remaining heads moving in what was supposed to be a bow… at least, she thought that was the case.

"Is there a problem sir? I hope my guards are treating you and your comrades with some modicum of respect?"

"Oh indeed your ladyship, it isn't that at all." The man said, raising his eyes to meet hers. "It's just that, my friend here has a favour to ask of you regarding her return home."

"Mmmmmm-m-m-mmm-m-mmmm!"

"She says 'My husband will not believe where I have been all this time'."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at this, stepping closer to the row of pikes before asking "He won't believe that you were beheaded and put on a pike for several months?"

"M-mm-m-m-mmmm." The mute head continued to mumble out, and Elizabeth immediately looked to the other head for an interpretation.

"She says 'My husband is very jealous'."

"Mmm-m-mmm-m-m-m-mmmmm-m."

"She also says 'He thinks nearly everything I say is a lie to cover up an affair'."

"I don't blame him!" Another head yelled out just as a guard was lifting him off his pike, grinning to himself before adding "With the state you are in, he would probably think you're giving the whole village some head! Ahahahaha!"

"M-mmmm-m-m-m-m!"

"She says 'Go fuck yourself bastard'."

"For the love of Abaddon…" Letting out a sigh, Elizabeth indicated for the guard to take the head away before turning her attention back to the other two and calm responding "Madame, I shall personally testify as to your whereabouts for all this time."

"Mmm-mmm-m-m-m-m!"

"Now she says 'Thank you your ladyship'. And so do I, we are all grateful for your ascension to leadership." He responded, bowing his head once more just as it was being lifted.

"You are welcome." Elizabeth murmured as she watched the head be carried away before walking out of the chamber to inspect the dungeons surrounding them.

Grateful… would anybody use such a word for her parents reign? No, their cruelty had surpassed anything their race had ever known before. Wraiths were always cruel but they… Elizabeth found it hard to even think about them sometimes.

Raum and Empusa had both been abusive to her. While her mother did it most often, it was her father who was the worst of the two. Her mother may beat her senseless but he did things even Wraith were ashamed of. She would yell and talk back to her mother until her voice was hoarse but she never raised a word to him, not even when she despised him the most.

But that didn't matter anymore, both of them were dead and she was Countess. The people had readily accepted her and even supported her effort to wipe away anything that could remind people of them. Destroying the blood machine was the first thing to be done, though her father had put in many defence mechanisms in place so it had proved-

"UNHAND ME YOU IMBECILIC WRETCHES!"

Her head snapped around to face one of the chamber doors, quickly noticing a group of guards struggling with one of the Helot prisoners. There had been some resistance to her reign so Elizabeth dismissed the scene, starting to turn her head away.

"Silence Helot, we are under orders from the Countess to clear out this dungeon. You will cooperate or you will be punished."

"Heh, brainless fools! You eagerly follow new orders like nothing has happened? That corruption may have killed that hellish pair but do you really think their spawn will be any better?! You are all idiots!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH FROM YOU!" The guard yelled, and a grunt of pain came from the Helot.

Elizabeth froze mid-step.

"Corruption?" She muttered to herself, turning back to look at the room.

Wraith had a very simple ideology, the only deity they worshipped was Abaddon and they believed themselves to be the purest and greatest of all the races, everything else was an abomination. And if he was talking about her parent's death… that meant he knew the hybrid! The one that was with Mr Scree!

"WAIT! Do not harm him!" She cried out, forgetting all dignity as she rushed into the room where the guards were restraining the now beaten Helot.

"Your ladyship!" The leader turned, instantly sinking to her knees before Elizabeth. "This Helot worm was trying to cause trouble among the prisoners my lady, he must be dealt with accord-"

"I said you are not to harm him!" Elizabeth cried, glaring at the guard before turning her attention to the Helot man. "What is your name sir?"

He stare her directly in the eyes, not saying a word but the hatred and disgust in his face was obvious.

"I said, what is your name?"

He spat at her and one of the guards twisted his arm back harshly.

"Enough! Take your hands off him immediately!"

The guards seemed uncertain at first but eventually let go of his arms, backing away slightly while the Helot looked at them with disgust.

"You bow to a child as quickly as you bow to a sadist, filthy waste…"

"They bow to their new Countess, my good man, because that is what they are supposed to do." Elizabeth said, not impressed with being ignored.

He turned to face her, stepping forward until he was directly in front of her before hissing "Do not call me your good man, 'Countess'! You are nothing more than a spoilt brat taking over from your filth some parents! Planning on continuing their 'oh so noble' work?"

The guards were getting tense at how close he was getting to Elizabeth but she didn't bat an eyelid. She didn't think it possible, but here was a being that seemed to hate her parents even more than herself! Of course the Helot despised them but this vile hatred?

"If I wanted to be like my parents, good sir, why did I assist the corruption in their murder?" She said softly, smiling as his eyes widened in realisation. "I think we have more in common than you realise, there may even be a purpose for you in my court. Captain?"

"Yes your ladyship?"

"How go preparations for the funeral?"

"Just awaiting your presence my lady."

"Good." Her eyes slid back to the Helot. "Come with me…"

A swirling abyss of mist lay before them as they stood on the edge of the precipice, a procession of guards behind them.

"For many centuries this place was the destiny of all traitors. At the far end of the chateau with no possibility of survival, many who committed treason against my family were cast alive from this cliff. But, my father decided it was more entertaining to torture and experiment on them rather than getting rid of the worthless filth straight away." Elizabeth turned to look at the Helot with a small smirk on her face before adding, "I'm considering bringing this tradition back, what do you think?"

Immediately he stepped back, snarling at the young girl in a mix of fear and anger.

"Is that why you brought me here? To toss me away like some traitor? I should have known-"

"Oh be quiet you fool, of course I do not intend to throw you down here! Unless you give me a reason to." She snapped suddenly, causing him to freeze in shock. "Like I said, this is a funeral."

With that she clicked her fingers and two of the guards came forward, roughly dragging the limp corpses of Raum and Empusa.

The two of them stared at the lifeless bodies, both remembering the horrors committed by those creatures to themselves and the rest of the Wraith kind. The atmosphere was full of undiluted contempt as Elizabeth nodded towards the guards. Then the bodies were dragged all the way to the edge and roughly tossed them over, the bags of flesh making sickening crunches as they hit jutting rocks on the cliff face on the way down before disappearing into the endless mist.

"I would rather have them alive for this, but the symbolism is clear enough. They do not deserve to be considered Wraith."

Elizabeth stared into the endless mist for some time, still unable to believe they were really gone. All those years of hatred had hardened her emotions in many ways but even that could not stop the single tear of relief falling down her cheek. The Helot saw this, and in doing so remembered the many tears shed by his brethren in the village while they hid in his cellar. Could this child really restore things to the way they were? Maybe even… make things better?

"You helped the hybrid kill my parents, correct?" Elizabeth suddenly said, turning to face him with an expression portraying no discernible emotion.

"I told them how to contaminate the chalices they drank from, what else the corruption did was on her head not mine." He responded testily, still disgusted at how much contact he'd had with that hybrid, even if she had killed the Count and Countess.

"But the fact of the matter is, you did help her to kill them. And for that you have earned my respect. I intend to bring Aetha back to its former glory before my parent's slaughter, but I will require your assistance to make it happen." Elizabeth turned her head to stare at the chateau, imagining the village beyond before continuing "Do not expect for things to change too drastically, the Helot still need to stay in their place and I will not tolerate any signs of rebellion. But the steps my parents took were too far, there will be no more blood sacrifices and I will only imprison those who cross me. If you work with me to restore the village to what it was before, I will not only ensure your safety but also that the other Helot will be given a sufficient chance to survive. So what do you say?"

For a moment he remained silent, considering her words. She was still a cruel aristocrat, but her intentions were to preserve the traditions and ways of their race. Besides, even compared to rulers other than Raum and Empusa, she was not the worst Countess Aetha had seen. And if he could work from the inside, he may yet gain the chance to make changes for the Helot.

"If I do help you, I do it for my brethren… not out of loyalty to you." He muttered.

"That is understood. So I ask again… what is your name?"

The young Countess and the peasant stared at each other for a long time before he sank down on one knee and bowed his head before her.

"My name is Turel… your ladyship."


End file.
